Looking Out for You
by Gypsy Dancing Girl
Summary: Syaoran is injured in one of the Chess matches.  Kurogane and Fay remind him yet again what their job on this journey is.  Oneshot.  No pairings


**Title: Looking Out for You**

**Author: Gypsy Dancing Girl**

**Fandom: xxxholic**

**Pairings or Characters: No pairings intended . . . Kurogane, Fay, Syaoran . . . mentions of Sakura and clone!Syaoran.**

**Genres: Friendship, Hurt/Comfort**

**Rating: T**

**Warnings: Blood, Kurogane-threats, Spoilers through the Infinity Arc.**

**A/N: Too long for a drabble, and too short for a one-shot. Playing around, trying to figure out how they got from Point A (End of Acid Tokyo Arc) to Point B (Infinity Arc) and came up with this, which is my point of view on why Yuko allowed both men to go on the journey as Fei Wong Reid planned: to look out for the children . . . all the children.**

"Oi, kid, open up."

"Now, kid."

"I mean it, kid . . ."

"Now!"

"Kid!"

"Syaoran!"

The last one startled Syaoran out of his dazed stupor and he put the blood-soaked shirt down in the sink of hot water and went to unlock the door. Kurogane-san never called him by his name. Kurogane-san never called any of them by their names.

The moment the lock clicked, Syaoran was nearly knocked over by the fury with which the door was opened. The ninja grabbed his shoulder and bellowed "Why didn't you open the door?" into the teenager's ear.

Syaoran flinched, and Kurogane-san instantly silenced, turning him loose as he realized that there was blood under his hand. "It's nothing, Kurogane-san."

"That's a lot of blood for nothing," the ninja growled, grabbing his other arm to drag him out of the bathroom and into the better light of the living room. "When did you get hit? Why didn't you have them take care of it at the med station after the match?"

"I don't know," Syaoran voiced his confusion. "It doesn't hurt."

"It looks like something with claws got a hold of you, kid," Kurogane-san muttered skeptically, taking the wet cloth from Syaoran to dab at the blood. "How'd you miss something like that? I didn't think you'd even got hit."

"Just that one spell near the end," Syaoran's brow furrowed. "It didn't hurt when it hit me."

Kurogane-san snorted. "Mage!"

"What?" Syaoran gasped. "No! Don't bother Fay-san!"

"This was done by magic. The mage is our resident-expert on magic. Therefore I bother the mage," Kurogane-san intoned grumpily as he fetched the first aid kit. "Speaking of . . . Mage!"

"It's nothing, Kurogane-san! Don't bother Fay-san. I don't want to trouble him."

Kurogane-san glared down his nose at the teenager. "Let's get one thing straight, kid. We have one job and one job only on this journey. Looking out for you."

"But the princess!"

"Can manage without her slave for five minutes. MAGE!"

Fay appeared at the top of the stairs. "Yes, Kurogane? The princess was resting."

"Than you should have come the first time I called," Kurogane-san shrugged. "Get down here and take a look at this injury. Kid got hit by that last spell after all."

"Very well." Fay chose the faster expedient of simply jumping over the hand rail. "Did you get the . . . oh, there it is. Thank you, Kurogane."

Fay-san's hands were cold, but Syaoran didn't flinch, because he couldn't feel it.

"That is a nasty spell," the blonde man nodded. "You don't feel it?" he directed to Syaoran.

"No, Fay-san."

"It's a clever battle attack, but rather useless and spiteful to attempt right before defeat since the effect takes so long," Fay-san lectured calmly, taking over cleaning away the blood. "It causes injury, but numbs the pain. As time goes on, the victim is weakened by blood loss, without ever being aware of the injury. I'm quite sure that it's against the rules." The mage began tracing runes over Syaoran's shoulder and the bleeding slowed as feeling came back to his arm. "There's nothing else in the wound to prevent it from healing normally. You can take care of it now, Kurogane."

"Arigatou, Fay-san," Syaoran offered. "Gomen nasaii for bothering you."

The mage nodded distantly, and then offered one of his fake smiles. "It's my job to look out for you and Sakura-hime." He stood there awkwardly for another minute, before excusing himself and returning to the princess. "Goodnight."

Kurogane waited for the door to shut before pushing Syaoran into a seat and crouching to bandage the upper arm and shoulder. "If you don't learn to ask for help, I will kill you myself."

"Kurogane-san?"

"I am not going to face the witch if you die with the lame excuse that I didn't know. If you die, I am going to know how, where, why, and who did it, do you understand me?"

"My other self-"

"How many times do I have to remind you that I'm talking to you and not the clone?" Kurogane muttered angrily. "There. Go to bed. I'm going to go find the manju and get very drunk."

Successful diversion. "Arigatou, Kurogane-san," Syaoran bowed hastily and fled. There were some things that he didn't want to take from the clone . . . just in case Sakura-hime managed to save his other self. Kurogane-san's friendship was one of them.

Besides . . . Syaoran could look out for himself.

**The End.**


End file.
